Household waste and recycling event successful

Saturday’s collection of household hazardous waste and electronics generated more than 50,000 pounds of televisions, computers and related accessories.
The 12th annual collection featured a flow of traffic that arrived an hour before the four-hour event began at 8 a.m., according to Pat Kulikowski, secretary for the St. Joseph County Solid Waste Committee. The line of traffic continued through the duration of the event.
Other totals include 496 tires, about 1,500 cans of paint and three-quarters of a semi-trailer filled with regular and corrugated paper product.
Kulikowski said nearly 11,000 pounds of household hazardous waste was also turned in Saturday. She said most numbers were comparable to the spring 2016 collection, though electronics was the exception, as roughly 20 percent more was turned in this year compared to 2016.
Though final numbers for appliances were not yet available, Kulikowski said the box truck in which appliances were placed was at capacity, featuring a number of freezers and refrigerators.